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Friday, August 26, 2016

One week ago yesterday, I left the hospital, so that means that today marks one full week since that adventure. On the whole, it’s been a good week, and even the bits that weren’t ended up being good, too.

I’ve felt good ever since the procedure, with no angina or any other problems. The side effects of my new medication have mostly gone away, so, I’d be good to go.

The complicating factor has been the gout attack that began, really, a week ago today. It wasn’t too bad at first, became very bad on Saturday, good again on Sunday, bad on Monday, good Tuesday—and, to mix things up a bit—stayed good until Thursday.

Friday I went to see my doctor primarily to see if there’s a stronger pain reliever I could take, and there isn’t. NSAIDS like ibuprofen, which was part of my usual treatment for a gout attack, conflicts with my statin. Worse, anything else could cause bleeding, since I’m on blood thinners for six months or so. That means that paracetamol (also known as acetaminophen) is all I can take.

The worst part of a gout attack for me isn’t just the pain, it’s that just before a big attack, and at the earliest stages, I feel like I’ve got the flu—feverish (even if I don’t have a fever), general achiness and feeling yucky (that’s a technical term). It’s very unpleasant.

Because of all that, the gout attack has forced me to rest, which is probably a good thing. Much as I’m keen to get on with things like exercise, if I didn’t have the gout attack, I may very well have tried to do too much. So, the gout attack, unpleasant as it has been, is actually a good thing because it slowed me down a bit to give my body a chance to recover from the previous week, and even to heal from the condition that’s been fixed.

The doctor wrote a repeat prescription for my new blood pressure medication, keeping the dosage where it is for a month. My reading was much lower than when I saw her the week before, though part of the reason for the higher reading back then may have been stress-related. At any rate, it’s on the right track.

Meanwhile, I’ve lost about 3kg (the better part of 7 pounds) since all this began, which is a good start. I’ve also found some Apps to help me track and monitor my exercise, but, obviously, I haven’t been able to start using them yet. When I do, I’ll talk about them in more detail, along with another App that is supposed to help people make healthier choices at the grocery store.

So, all in all, I’m making progress and I feel good. Naturally, even though the gout attack has been oddly helpful, I’ll still be glad when it’s over.